2 in California vie for McCarthy’s seat in May

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A county sheriff in California’s Central Valley is advancing to a May election in California to decide who will complete the remainder of the term of deposed former U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, which runs through January.

Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux will face state legislator Vince Fong — who is backed by former President Donald Trump and McCarthy — in the May 21 special election in the 20th District.

Republicans are expected to easily hold the seat, and the party’s fragile majority in the chamber was not at stake in this election.

The district, which cuts through the Central Valley farm belt, including parts of Bakersfield and Fresno, has the most strongly Republican House seat in heavily Democratic California.

Republicans occupy only 11 of the state’s 52 House seats, with the one held by McCarthy currently vacant.

Boudreaux and Fong have also advanced to the November election for the full 20th Congressional District term that begins in January.

The special election only covers the time remaining in McCarthy’s term.

Trump endorsed Fong in February, calling him “a true Republican.” Boudreaux’s supporters include Ric Grenell, a former acting director of national intelligence in the Trump administration, and Republican state Sen. Shannon Grove of Bakersfield, Fong’s home turf.

Fong and Boudreaux occupy much of the same policy terrain, and both are Trump-supporting conservatives.

But Fong is McCarthy’s handpicked choice and a product of his political operation, while the sheriff is not.

The top issue in the race was the nation’s border crisis.

Fong is anchored in Kern County, the most populous swath in the district, while Boudreaux is a familiar name in Tulare and Kings counties. The race could be decided in Fresno County, where the two were narrowly divided in the March 5 primary, according to incomplete results.